Eridanus
by Cimbeline
Summary: A young woman sat, still, on a stump. Her eyes were closed, and she hummed in an ancient tenor, the sound of Dust itself.
1. Nausikaa

"O majesty, O father of us all, that man is in the dust indeed, and justly."

-Homer, The Odyssey

A static thunderstorm whipped, rumbling, through the slapping leaves of the forest. Leaves and pine needles were held suspended in the charged air. The air took on a violent mien as the maelstrom overhead twisted, grossly expanded, gorging itself on the anbaric nature of the atmosphere. The first rip of cool rain sliced from the thunderhead as an eerie silence prevailed through the trees, thunder picking up once more as the harsh patter of water beat on the abused trees.

A young woman sat, still, on a stump. Her eyes were closed, and she hummed in an ancient tenor, the sound of Dust itself. The golden particles swarming around her buzzed to life, swirling through the soaking locks of her hair, gently brushing her face, lifting the tiny hairs on the back of her neck. She smiled.

She seemed to be asking herself questions, silently, in that humming tune, as the brutal pealing of the sky above her continued in its rage.

Her eyes snapped open with an unnatural sharpness, though a profound joy rang true in her eyes. The stripping rain plastered her golden locks to her face. She alighted from the stump, catching in her arms a beautiful, albeit waterlogged, pine marten. She continued humming to the Dust.

This young woman is, very obviously, Lyra Silvertongue.

Lyra continued her mental interrogation of the Dust. Regardless of her loss of the power to read the alethiometer, there were other ways of contacting those conscious particles. And they were, at this moment, telling her something she very much wanted to hear. How to travel between the universes like the Angels.


	2. Phaiakians

"Go to old Nestor, master charioteer,  
so we may breach the storehouse of his mind.  
Ask him with courtesy and in his his wisdom he will tell you history and no lies." -Homer, The Odyssey

Will stood, silent and stoic as a statue, in his attic room of Mary Malone's flat. His eyes glimmered suspiciously, and Kirjava beside him rose lithely into a position of tense readiness.

Will slowly paced forward, eying the slippery glimmer of air before him, as if waiting for it to speak.

A ghostly breath trailed over his features, and he relaxed his protective position. "Angel, name yourself. And your business," he added hastily. His heart pounded in his chest at the sight of this otherworldly being..and he remembered. _Lyra._ Will nearly fell. He had been trying to forget her, the vivid memories of her becoming painful in the aftermath of their separation.

The filmy substance before him solidified until it resembled a man, albeit one carved like an Adonis.

"Phaethon is my name, colleague of Bathalmos. My business here with you is one of personal importance."

Will motioned for him (her?) to continue.

"It came to me, through the twilight imaginings of an ancient being, to tell you a history, in the hope that it may influence your fate."

Will answered with a question in his eyes.

"No. Your destiny has not yet sailed its course; one's destiny only ends when one dies. No, Will, you have a fate yet to come. Let me pass my knowledge unto you."

"Phaethon, though I am young, I am weary and aged in soul. I have no impulse for adventure."

"Let me relay my information, then do with it what you may."

Phaethon shut his shadowed eyes, and a wistful smile graced his chiseled features.

"There was once an angel. His name was Helios; you may remember him as a god, though we now know there was never a god at all. Helios, bright son of the sky, was once human. He lived his life as if in a haze of sunshine, running through light-dappled streams and basking in the golden heat of the dying mother-star. Yes, the sun was dying, slowly growing darker. The sun had reveled in the heat and vibrancy of Helios himself, and it missed the boy's exuberance and love. So the sun was dying, slowly but surely , as Helios was busy with other things."

"Helios grew, and as all men must one day do, found a maiden to occupy himself with. However, this maiden was no ordinary woman. This girl radiated warmth and life as surely as the bright sun above did, and Helios slowly forgot about the heat and happiness that filled his childhood as he worshiped the sun-maiden with golden braids. And the sun grew jealous as Helios became more and more attached to his girl, the bright young woman who had replaced his childhood lamp. And he was happy, exuberantly so, with her; and the sun remembered how she was once enough to make him tremble with happiness, and grew bitter.

"The jealous and bitter sun decided to take revenge upon Helios, and captured his lady-love, holding her high above the clouds. And Helios was so angered that the merciful and sympathetic gods built him wings of feather and sinew, allowing him to quest after his sun-maiden. Helios was angry at the sun; and told her so. He spoke angry words unto her, and the sun trembled with unhappiness and anger. The sun decided to die; splitting itself into billions of small shards. And though the maiden and Helios could once more be together, there was no sunlight for them to delight in. And though the maiden loved Helios, she could no longer be his, as he had gained angelhood along with his wings. She cried and sobbed, disappearing into the bowels of the universe. Helios felt his heart tremble and break.

"Meanwhile, the sun-shards sensed the heartbreak of Helios, and infused a small fraction of themselves into Helios' being. This way, Helios had light to find his lady-love, and the sun could always be within him. The other pieces of the sun spread throughout the universes, attracted to those beings who were questing and creating as Helios was as a boy.

"However hard he searched, Helios could not see his sun-maiden. He built himself a chariot of sunlight and wits, and rode it with two steeds of fire through the skies of the universes, searching for his maiden. One day, after constructing a doorway of sun-pieces, Helios found his love, at the other side of the doorway. But he found that he could not touch her; the light-shards within him trembled and drew him away from his golden-braided love. And Helios knew he could not forsake his duties; the universes needed a sun. So Helios fetched his chariot and flaming stallions and fled through the skies, retreating only for a few hours a day to be with his love."

Will had stood up sometime during the story in excitement, though he did not quite recall having done so. Phaethon smiled and nodded at Will, dissipating into the moonlit air outside Will's window.

Will's heart was aflutter, drawing strength into his excited center.

He would make a dust-doorway.


End file.
